Charles Leclerc maintained Ferrari’s surprise form at the 2025 Monaco Grand Prix, topping final practice from Red Bull’s Max Verstappen while Leclerc's Formula 1 team-mate Lewis Hamilton crashed out.
Leclerc and Verstappen were a league apart in the early part of the session, trading fastest times before Verstappen pumped in a 1m11.2s lap on the medium compound Pirelli tyre that everyone, including him, struggled to beat.
It really looked as though that time might not be beaten as the session wound down and the track heated up.
The Red Bull appeared to be in a much better set-up window for FP3 after a difficult final session on Friday, where Verstappen felt the set-up changes had gone too far and tipped his car out of balance.
But even with the RB21 working much better on Saturday he struggled on the faster but trickier C6 tyre and failed to eclipse his earlier time despite repeated attempts, claiming he had “no grip” on this compound.
The main problem seemed to be getting the tyres in the right temperature window for Turn 1 and Verstappen sounded exasperated over team radio.
As the track got busy in the closing minutes and drivers struggled to find gaps in the traffic, Leclerc found a handy bit of space and pumped in a 1m10.953s lap to wrest top spot back from Verstappen by 0.280s.
Lando Norris was third in the best of the McLarens, just 0.014s down on Verstappen, while Oscar Piastri made a slow start to FP3 but finished up a respectable fourth, albeit 0.151s down on Norris.
Hamilton battled Alex Albon’s Williams for a place in the top five before suffering a snap of oversteer through Massenet (Turn 3), whacking the rear right corner of his Ferrari hard against the barrier.
Hamilton hit the barriers at Massenet 💥#F1 #MonacoGP pic.twitter.com/BVPeEmsjrn
— Formula 1 (@F1) May 24, 2025
That incident meant the session finished under red flags with just over two minutes left to run. Hamilton wasn't able to get to the pits under his own power - and gearbox damage will be of concern to Hamilton and Ferrari ahead of qualifying.
Albon rounded out the top six for Williams after another impressive run, while team-mate Carlos Sainz was eighth, behind the Racing Bulls of Liam Lawson - who continues to look revitalised here after a difficult run since being demoted by Red Bull.
The second Red Bull of Yuki Tsunoda, running an outdated spec of nose and floor after his Imola Q1 shunt, was ninth-fastest, while Mercedes rookie Kimi Antonelli rounded out the top 10.
Team-mate George Russell bemoaned Mercedes’ “slowest Friday of the year” and things weren’t much better in FP3, where Russell finished up 11th-quickest, over a second off the pace and saying he was “running out of ideas” to make the C6 tyres work around Monaco.
Franco Colapinto’s difficult Monaco weekend continued. He was again slowest of all, though at least closed his Friday deficit of eight tenths down to two and a half to the next slowest car - that being, in this session, Gabriel Bortoleto's Sauber.
Practice results
- Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) 1m10.953s
- Max Verstappen (Red Bull) +0.280s
- Lando Norris (McLaren) +0.294s
- Oscar Piastri (McLaren) +0.445s
- Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) +0.563s
- Alex Albon (Williams) +0.715s
- Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls) +0.861s
- Carlos Sainz (Williams) +0.940s
- Yuki Tsunoda (Red Bull) +0.999s
- Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) +1.060s
- George Russell (Mercedes) +1.113s
- Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) +1.148s
- Nico Hulkenberg (Sauber) +1.172s
- Pierre Gasly (Alpine) +1.241s
- Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) +1.249s
- Ollie Bearman (Haas) +1.298s
- Isack Hadjar (Racing Bulls) +1.318s
- Esteban Ocon (Haas) +1.546s
- Gabriel Bortoleto (Sauber) +1.648s
- Franco Colapinto (Alpine) +1.898s
